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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2 — Things Fall Apart.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What kind of system does Gawande compare human bodies to?
(a) Nuclear power plants.
(b) Automobiles.
(c) Wind-up toys.
(d) Kitchen appliances.

2. How does Gawande characterize the “newest view” about why we age (32)?
(a) Aging is environmentally determined.
(b) Aging is genetically programmed.
(c) Aging is based on economic class.
(d) Aging is a sum of wear and tear.

3. How did Gawande’s grandfather and his wife avoid starving to death as newlyweds?
(a) They harvested a bumper crop that paid their debts.
(b) They speculated in land and their gamble paid off.
(c) They appealed to a wealth uncle who bailed them out.
(d) They came to America and worked their way up.

4. How does Gawande characterize the plot of a person’s health for most of history?
(a) A series of dips followed by recoveries that approach the horizontal axis of death.
(b) A high line that runs flat then falls quickly.
(c) A high line that ends abruptly.
(d) A series of minor decreases in a slow decline toward death.

5. What does Ivan Ilych die of?
(a) Tuberculosis.
(b) Cholera.
(c) An unnamed disease.
(d) Malnourishment.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Gawande say he and his fellow doctors never touched on, in talking about Lazaroff’s condition with him?

2. How does Gawande characterize both Lazaroff and the doctors?

3. Why does Gawande say we do not have “the kind of old age” our grandfathers had (20)?

4. According to James Vaupel’s research, how much of your parents’ lifespans determines your own?

5. What does Gawande say he felt about the dead people who showed up in his dreams?

(see the answer key)

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